Just a Dream
by ShyPixie
Summary: Lizzy Macmillian is thrown into the world of middle earth. Is it a dream?- AU Fic
1. Hope of a Dream

FYI: I do not own any of the creatures the master Tolkien created I am merely borrowing them. Also, I may use certain lines and events found in Peter Jackson's movies, I don't own them either. I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions you have for me and my story. This is my first so I need all the help I can get. Thank you! ShyPixie  
  
"Never again," she promised herself. Her aunt's advice had never gotten her anywhere so why did she persist in listening?! This had been the third date from hell in six months and Lizzy's Aunt Vesta hadn't lost any of her fervor.  
"You'll never get married if you don't at least try to find Mr. Right. I mean he's not going to walk up to you one day and tap you on the shoulder, you know! Dip your oar in the water, live a little . . ." And on it went. "A Friend of mines son just returned from an extended business trip and he's looking for some company. Why don't you get together? Don't think of it as a date, but you never know what'll happen right? Just give him a try!" So Lizzy had. She'd fallen for her relatives sweet caring face again and regretted it again.  
During her college years, Lizzy had been more active in the dating scene but as the never-ending search had proved fruitless, she'd come to a decision. If she was meant to have true love it would find her and her aunt's recent spurt of matchmaking hadn't changed her opinion whatsoever. They had all been either too young, too old, or just too desperate, and if you could say one thing about Lizzy Macmillan it was that she was no man's plaything.  
The hard slap of tennis shoes on pavement echoed loudly in the early morning mist as Lizzy tried to run her frustrations into the ground. Grimacing, she could still remember the feeling of Jerry's hot, sweaty hands on her leg last night when he'd reached for her under the restraunt table. Slowly, the grimace was replaced by a grin as she could also recall the look on his face when her booted heel had 'accidentally' ground into his toes.  
"Never again," she repeated again. Her aunt meant well but she couldn't go through another date like last night.  
From a distance, you'd never have been able to tell Lizzy's dark thoughts. You'd probably stop and stare, waiting for the camera crew to appear trailing behind her as such perfection was only found on screen. Her designer sweat suit molded to her body and her tennis shoes gleamed with unmarred white. Dark blonde hair was pulled back from a timeless face, with high cheekbones and a pert nose. If you looked close you might have been surprised to see her light green eyes narrowed in annoyance.  
She didn't need a man in her life anyway, Lizzy thought. Her slow climb up the corporate ladder required all her attention and she had no time for the constant maintenance a relationship demanded. The intruding dreams of a quiet existence with a family and dog were ruthlessly pushed back. The ever-changing paths of life had not brought her to the places she'd imagined as a child, but she liked her life . . . she did!  
Muttering under her breath, she continued to follow the twisting countryside road that lead her farther and farther away from her aunt's rustic estate. Her concentration anywhere but on the dew-soaked landscape, Lizzy rounded a bend on the road. She didn't see the bit of gravel lying directly in her path. Down she went, her feet flying out from under her, her arms flailing at her sides. Groaning, she rolled over clutching her elbow. "No amount of designer clothes would have made that fall graceful, " she thought with a wince. Narrowing her eyes, she squinted at something that caught her eye a few feet from her head. Sitting up slowly, making sure nothing was broken, she reached a hand out and plucked the flower up. Lizzy had never seen this particular kind of flower before. It's pedals were a snow white, the stem short, but incredibly sturdy looking. Lifting it up to her nose, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.  
The scent was alluring and distinctly wild. A small smile of happiness spread across her features as her mood instantly brightened. Opening her eyes, the she let out a gasp, the grin dying on her face.  
Jumping to her feet, despite the squealing protests from bruised limbs, she gazed around blankly in shock. Gone was the paved road, the mist and gently rolling countryside. In it's place, jagged rocks and distant snow-capped mountains were evident.  
"Where the hell am I?!" she yelled into the started silence. Turning in a complete circle she could find no answers from the silent, towering pillars of stone. She continued to stare uncomprehendingly at the scene surrounding her. This wasn't the quietly beautiful landscape she'd grown up in and she was pretty damn sure of that!  
"Man, I must have taken a harder fall than I'd realized," she muttered, rubbing her bruised backside. Lizzy's mind tried, but failed, to grasp what was happening. Looking down to see what she was crushing in between her fingers, which were clenched into fists. The white flower. Amazingly, the petals didn't look damaged at all from her rough handling and the stem was as straight as ever.  
"I must be dreaming," Lizzy thought. "In fact, I bet I never even woke up this morning and this is all part of a dream. Yeah, that's it. It's all just a dream!" Relieved, she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, She wasn't crazy after all. "Well if I'm still asleep, " she mused aloud, "then I should take a look around. There must be a reason why my mind put me here."  
So with that, she started walking, turning her head this way and that, trying not to miss and details, confident in her knowledge that it was all just an illusion and thats when she heard it. At first, Lizzy thought of thunder, but, looking up, noticed the clear blue sky. Where was the noise coming from? It sounded like a herd of wild horses, but she seriously doubted that.  
Shielding her eyes against the glare of the sun, Lizzy squinted into the distance ahead of her. Cresting the top of the hill, what looked like a low-hanging black cloud ran towards her with alarming speed. As the cloud came steadily closer and closer she realized with a start, thats no cloud. Individual creatures swarmed together in a band wearing what looked like black armour. She couldn't call them men because even from this distance their stature and general air about them stank of something else entirely different. Something brushed against her mind, something like recognition, but as she tried to grasp the thin threads of memory they slipped though her fingers.  
She didn't feel any fear, even when they were close enough that she could see the brutal looking swords strapped to their sides, in fact she didn't even think about hiding, her mind so engrossed in the theory that this was all just a dream. Half expecting the creatures to run on past her Lizzy almost jumped in surprise when they slowed down and formed a circle around her. Catching a glimpse of some of their disfigured faces, Lizzy wondered idly what they were supposed to represent. Anger? Fear? Didn't everything in a dream represent some feeling in real life?  
She realized they were staring at her. Looking down, Lizzy peered at her ripped and very expensive sweat pants and the scratch on her knee that was slowly oozing blood. Her hair was mussed and she hadn't had time to put on any makeup this morning. When she realized where her thoughts were drifting she started to laugh. Had she looked at them? Their appearance was so horrible she doubted they even noticed hers. Still laughing she clutched at her aching sides. She hadn't laughed so hard in years, but then, this was a dream so she didn't think it would count.  
The creatures had started to shift on their feet when she started laughing, and she heard the word "witch" being muttered around. Now she didn't look that bad did she?  
Suddenly, Lizzie remembered were she'd seen these creatures. The Lord of the Rings, that movie she had watched last week. Ogs? Obs? Obics? Orics? Orcs! Thats it! Her mind grasped it. The dream must be of the movie. But if these were orcs, and she was now sure they were, shouldn't she be dead by now? They'd been quite vicious on screen and she couldn't understand why they hadn't moved. "Well, I suppose I look quite odd for this particular time period." she drawled to herself still highly amused.  
They'd been talking amongst themselves for quite a bit. They I heard a low, rasping voice.  
"It's just a pitiful human woman. She is no threat to us. We are all starving, and we haven't had a break for days. She would fill my belly quite nice."  
"Look at her you fool!" A giant orc with blue streaks running down his face snarled. "She fits the description of the one Sauruman foretold would come. The one that has great foresight and magic. She would be able to foresee the outcome of the great battles to come. We must take her to our lord. He will know what to do with her, and I would not want to face his judgment if he found out we had killed her." Slowly, the monster approached her, sliding his weapon out and placing the tip under her chin. "Bind her hands and gag her, least she put a spell on us."  
Rough hands grabbed Lizzy's wrists and twisted them painfully behind her back, course rope burning her skin as her arms were almost yanked out of their sockets. She was jerked along toward the giant, and it seemed leader, orc. She was about to open her mouth to protest that as this was a dream, it wasn't right that it should hurt so much when he stuffed a dirty piece of cloth into her mouth. Gagging from the horrible taste of it, Lizzy tried to spit it out, but before she could another long piece of course rope was tied around her mouth. The creature quickly swooped down and placed his shoulder in her gut stood up, and began running again. Her stomach collided painfully with the armour covering his body with every step. Soon she couldn't take it anymore and as she slowly faded into a realm of black mist her mind grappled with the hope that this was still all just a dream. 


	2. The Meeting

Thank you for your lovely reviews! They are what keep me writing and if you like what you read please continue to tell me. I apologize for all the grammatical errors. Grammar has never been my strong point and I don't think it ever will be, so bear with me! Thank you again! ShyPixie  
  
********  
  
"We're not going no further till we've had a breather!" a panting, gravelly voice grumbled loudly.  
Lizzy rolled onto her back with a muffled groan. Lifting her head, she opened her eyes to a narrow slit, let out another, louder moan and dramatically fell back. Her nightmares usually didn't drag on this long, but then the common, everyday nightmare usually didn't hurt this much either. Her shoulders throbbed with agony and she couldn't feel her arms anymore from hours of being tightly bound behind her back. Breathing had become especially difficult as her stomach and chest felt horribly bruised from the beating her front had taken.  
Deep night had fallen while she'd been unconscious and Lizzy shivered in from the chill in the air. The head orc had rudely dumped her on the ground and stalked away, calling orders to his fellow monsters as he went.  
"Get a fire going!" he roared. As they scurried away, following his commands, she heard whispering not far from her head.  
"Who is she?"  
"How should I know, Pippin?! I've never seen her before thats for sure!"  
Swiveling her head around, Lizzy stared at the small forms lying to the left of her. Two pairs of large eyes gazed at her curiously. There was enough light from the moon to see the blood trickling down from a cut on one of the figures childlike brow.  
Remembered details flooded her instantly.  
"They must be hobbits," she thought. The hazy information slowly became clearer in her mind. Merry and Pippin. They had been captured by the orcs after Boromir had been killed.  
If she was correct, that would mean Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were hot on their trail and soldiers from Rohan would be charging in soon. Relief flooded her at the thought of the rescue party. Her pain would soon be over. A thought crossed her mind, "Why hadn't she remembered this sooner?" Lizzy had seen all three Lord of the Rings movies before and had enjoyed them immensely. Brushing the stray thought aside, she concentrated on the hobbits.  
"Mmmmf!"  
"She's trying to say something!" Pippin whispered.  
"Mmmmf mmuph!"  
Pippin spoke a little louder, "What did you say?"  
Merry muttered, "You idiot! She has a gag in her mouth she isn't going to be able to answer!"  
"Maybe we should take it off?" Pippin murmured.  
Lizzy nodded frantically.  
"Didn't you hear the Uruk-Hai? She's a witch! She might cast a spell on us!"  
Lizzy rolled her eyes.  
The conversation was abruptly cut short as a fight broke out between the creatures.  
"I'm starving! We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinking days!" One orc (or was it Uruk) snarled.  
"Yeah! Why can't we have some meat?" Questioned yet another. He cast a dark, greedy look toward the hobbits. "What about them?- they're fresh!"  
The leader stepped between them, "They are not for eating!" The two hobbits squeezed closer together and were casting frightened glances around.  
Lizzy wasn't worried. In fact, if her mouth had been free she might have started to whistle.  
And thats when the boys of Rohan made their grand entrance. They charged in swinging their swords and letting arrows fly. Body parts went this way, blood spurted that way and Lizzy watched in amusement feeling a kind of surreal sensation as if she was watching and old, favorite film. That is until an arrow landed dangerously close to her.  
"Watch it!" She grunted, the words unintelligible, and rolling over she caught the wide, terrified eyes of the frozen hobbits.  
They stared at her with indecision written all over their faces. "Go!" She silently willed them, trying to communicate with her eyes. She knew that they had to get into Fangorn Forest and meet the ents or the story would be dramatically altered. Turning around, they crawled toward the trees, casting guilty looks behind them. After she saw that they had safely disappeared behind the gigantic branches she turned to face the battle once more. The warriors from Rohan had made quick work of the exhausted Uruk-Hai and had jumped off their horses to pile the carcasses together to be burned. One soldier reached her side, leaned down to pick her up (probably thinking her one of the monsters and who could blame him? She most likely closely resembled one by now) but jumped back, yelling for his captain.  
A tall man with wide shoulders sauntered over sporting shaggy blonde hair and a beard. Even by the light of the torch she couldn't tell the color of his eyes only seeing twin pools of darkness.  
"What is it Finran?" The man asked irritably, clearly a good fight before bed wasn't his cup of tea.  
"Captain Eomer, " Ah, now she remembered, Captain of Rohan, Eowyn's brother, "look its a woman!"  
"Obviously, Finran," drawled the handsome captain, looking down at her with narrowed eyes, "but what is she doing here?- and with company such as this?" he swept his hand out to indicate the dead Uruk-Hai.  
"I . . . I don't know, Captain, " the poor soldier stuttered.  
"Well, maybe you should ask her?"  
"Of course, sir! Right away!" Reaching down, Finran fumbled with Lizzy's bindings and, in his nervousness, yanked a little harder on the gag than was required. When the ropes were finally removed, Lizzy hoarsely muttered, "I was expecting to be rescued not strangled, thanks!" Eomer raised a bow at her gratitude. Ignoring him, she rubbed at the raw wounds on her wrists and winced in pain as feeling slowly returned to her arms.  
"You don't happen to have any water do you?" Lizzy questioned, her dry throat protesting with every syllable.  
Wordlessly, Eomer strode over to his horse and removed a large container made of animal skins sewed together. Walking back he offered it to her. Grimacing, she thought of the poor animals who had died for the canteen and then of the cold bottles of water in her fridge. Muttering, she drank deeply anyway.  
"Thanks," she murmured and handed it back.  
Eomer took it and without looking, tossed it in the general direction of his horse. Crouching down beside her, so that they were eye level, he quietly asked, "Who are you?"  
"Lizzy McMillian, pleased to meet you. Not that my name would mean anything to you." Thinking how strange this all was she almost giggled. Lord, she must be getting delirious.  
"Lizzy McMillian, what a strange name. What were you doing with the Uruk-Hai?"  
"I honestly don't have a clue. I ran into them, they called me a witch, and now that I think about it that was quite rude, wasn't it? The beasts! They said something about a prophesy, and before I knew it I ended up here with you. Isn't that nice?" Another giggle almost escaped.  
He was looking at her strangely now and Lizzy had almost reached up to check for horns before she caught herself. Well, her story was a bit . . . out of the norm and she was pretty sure she fit the description of a witch right now so she could almost understand his stare.  
"When you decide to tell me the truth, let me know. Until then . . ." he grabbed Lizzy's hand and attempted to pull her to her feet. Clutching her aching stomach with one arm she yelped and tried to swat him away as dizziness swept over her in a great tidal wave. She almost bowled over in pain and would have fallen to her knees if Eomer hadn't reacted quickly. Pushing aside her hand, which was still trying to batt him away, he swept an arm under her knees and across her shoulders, picking her up as easily as some men might pick up a beer. Swiftly striding over to his horse he gently deposited her in the saddle ignoring all her protests and swooped down to pick up the container of water. Swinging his leg up, he mounted the horse behind her and arranged Lizzy so that her cheek was comfortably cushioned on his chest. Still feeling dizzy she was unable to manage more than a few weak complaints before he nudged his horse forward shouting back to his men, "We ride north!"  
They trotted away and were quickly swallowed up by the shadows dancing around the sick glow of the fire, it's flames greedily licking at the smoking flesh. 


	3. A New Fellowship

Thanx so much for your lovely reviews! I apologize for misspelling Merry, my only excuse being that I wrote that part of the chapter very late and if I ever do something like that again please tell me! I actually think this next chapter is the weakest so far. Maybe I'm being to critical, or maybe not critical enough, anyway tell me what you think! I decided to follow the movie instead of the book as thats all Lizzy knows, but I do agree that the books are much better than the movie! Thanks again and do keep reviewing! ShyPixie  
  
*******  
Whoever said the smell of sweat on men and horses was attractive clearly didn't know what the hell they were talking about. Had these men never heard of bathing before?! Trying hard not to breathe through her nose, Lizzy reflected that, although her stomach was still throbbing with pain, she was quite comfortable. Thick arms surrounded her and managed to ward off the chill in the air and occasionally, Lizzy could feel Eomer's warm breath tickle her neck and if she had been anywhere close to drifting off she certainly wasn't after that. He disturbed her and she didn't know. Just the feel of his hard chest beneath her cheek sent an odd thrill though her she could neither deny or explain.  
Lizzy's thoughts floated away to the question racing around her head. "Was this a dream?" No longer as sure of herself as she once had been she gazed around at the passing scenery. The details were just to sharp and the pain coursing though her body too real. "Okay . . ." she thought, "If this isn't a dream then how did she wind up here?" No light bulb clicked on, no forgotten instant came to mind. In short, she had no freaking clue, but she wasn't ready to confront the issue, it was too disturbing. Lizzy made the decision not to concentrate on what she could do nothing about, but enjoy where she was to the fullest.  
Glancing behind them, she could still distantly see the thick cloud of smoke still billowing from the Uruk-Hai bonfire. Chewing her lip in thought, she estimated that they should be running into Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli anytime now. Making their way over a hill, the horses hooves thundering loudly on the way down, when, sure enough, a voice shouted from behind them.  
"Riders of Rohan! What news from the Mark?"  
She felt Eomer stiffen behind her and grinned in response. This had been one of her favorite parts of all the films as it reminded her of four roosters fighting for dominance in the coop.  
Turning in a wide half-circle, Eomer's men changed direction and galloped toward the crest of the hill where Aragorn and his posse waited. Holding his reins tightly in one hand, Eomer stayed to the rear of the group and when they had circled the three Lizzy found out why. Swiftly dropping her to the ground so she would be invisible behind the horses rumps he pushed his way toward the front without bothering to spare a glance for her.  
Landing on her feet neatly, surprised to find that the dizziness had evaporated, Lizzy glared at Eomer's back as he trotted away. Well, if he thought she'd stay behind like a good girl he had a lot to learn. There was no way, come hell or high water she'd miss this exchange. Charging forward, Lizzy began the difficult task of squeezing in between the tight group of mounts.  
"What business does an elf, a man, and a dwarf have in the Riddermark?" Eomer's voice boomed loudly. "Speak quickly!"  
She heard Gimli's voice pipe up insolently as she neared the scene. "Give me your name, horse master, and I shall give you mine!" Lizzy grinned when she saw Aragorn roll his eyes. Turning her head swiftly, she eagerly looked at Eomer for she loved his next line as it never failed to make her laugh. He didn't disappoint.  
"I would cut off your head, Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground," Eomer snarled.  
Slapping a hand to her mouth, her eyes brimming over with mirth, she almost missed Legolas's sift response.  
"You would die before your stroke fell!" Legolas declared passionately an arrow notched menacingly in his bow.  
The smooth sound of several swords being quickly unsheathed brought her attention to Aragorn, who diplomatically intervened. Rapidly stepping in between Legolas and a grim looking Eomer, he placed his hand over Legolas's arrow lowering it so it pointed harmlessly to the ground.  
"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn, this is Gimli son of Gloin, and Legolas of the woodland realm. We are friends of Rohan, and of Theoden your king." Eomer's menacing stare slowly lessened during the short introduction though he never took his eyes off Legolas.  
"Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe . . ." he hesitated then gradually reached up to remove his helmet, "not even his own kin."  
A look of surprised recognition crossed Aragorn's features.  
"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and taken ownership over his lands," Eomer continued with a sad, defeated look. "My company as those loyal to Rohan and for that we are banished." He took a step closer, lowering his voice ( Lizzy leaned in unconsciously), "The white wizard is cunning, he walks here and there they say as an old man hooded and cloaked and everywhere his spies slip past our nets."  
Aragorn spoke up with an irritated tone in his voice, "We are no spies. We track a party of Uruk-Hai westward across the plain. They have taken two of our friends captive," he finished with a look of pain.  
"The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night." Eomer said with a grim voice.  
Looks of panic flashed across the faces of the fellowship.  
Gimli blurted out, "But their were two hobbits! Did you see two hobbits with them?!"  
Lizzy decided it was time to make her presence known.  
"Don't worry," she said briskly, stepping out from between two horses, "I saw them safely walk into Fangorn Forest unharmed."  
Four male faces focused their complete, unblinking, attention on Lizzy and she abruptly halted in her steps from the sheer force of it. She darted a quick glance at Eomer and winced at the fury she found on his face. Ignoring him, she stepped closer to the fellowship.  
"Your friends are just fine!" When they continued to stare at her, not saying anything, Lizzy had to catch herself from reaching up to pat her wild hair, the tie having fallen off sometime ago. She stopped, deciding that no matter how bad she looked there was no reason for them to stare so rudely. So, in mid reach she changed directions and settled her hands firmly on her hips and glared back.  
"What? Did I miss something?" She asked defiantly. Lizzy had no way of knowing that they weren't staring at her in fright from her looks, but rather at her torn clothes where they could see bruises and the burn lines around her mouth from the gag.  
Aragorn recovered first. "Fangorn Forest?" he croaked.  
"Finally!" Lizzy thought with exasperation.  
"Yes," she said loudly.  
"Eomer was looking at her with confusion and anger written all over his face. Lizzy couldn't blame him, after all, she hadn't mentioned the hobbits.  
There was a moment of silence, then Gimli shifted his feet and muttered, "Well, we better get going, then!" He carefully avoided her eyes when he nudged Aragorn.  
"What happened to you, my lady?" Legolas asked softly.  
Glancing at him, she smiled slightly at the concerned look on his face or as concerned as an elf could look, she supposed.  
"Oh, I had a little run in with the Uruk-Hai. Got a little banged up, but I'm still breathing, right? So thats good."  
Judging from the looks on their faces, that wasn't good. She didn't realize they were all thinking how impossible it was for a woman to run into a band of Uruk-Hai and come out of it with only bruises. "Anyway," she chirped to cover up the silence not daring to look at Eomer again, "You guys really should go and look for your friends now."  
"Yes, you should go search for your friends," Eomer said abruptly.  
The thought of not being able to stay with the fellowship or meet Gandalf sent a wave of sadness through her. She would have loved to be with them as they went on their adventures.  
Suddenly, Lizzy perked up.  
"I'll go with you!"  
Three pairs of horrified eyes swung her way.  
"Nonsense, woman!" Gimli blustered, "You'll only slow us down!"  
"You manage to do that all on your own, Gimli," came Legolas's amused reply. Gimli huffed and began protesting loudly, but everyone ignored him. Eomer was looking even angrier than before, if that was possible, and opened his mouth, but Legolas cut him off.  
"We'd be glad to have such fine company."  
Aragorn and Gimli stared at him in shock.  
"This is . . ." Legolas stammered, "That is . . . if Aragorn thinks it's alright."  
Blinking rapidly, obviously thinking fast, Aragorn quickly said, "We don't even know your name!"  
"Lizzy McMillian."  
He paused again, not having thought this far ahead, "Well, I . . ."  
"Great then! When do we leave?" Lizzy interrupted not giving him anytime to come up with an excuse. There was no way she was missing this opportunity. If this was a dream she might as well enjoy it as much as she could, if it wasn't . . . well, she'd have to deal with that some other time.  
"If she goes, so do I," Eomer stated firmly, shooting Legolas a look of distaste.  
Throwing up his hands, Gimli shouted sarcastically, "Why don't we just bring everyone? We could have a party!"  
"Why do you want to go?" Lizzy asked Eomer in astonishment.  
Not bothering to answer her, Eomer turned around and began shouting orders to his men.  
"You'll ride north without me. If I need you I'll send word. Leave Arod and Hasufel."  
"You can't go, Eomer! Go with your men I'll be fine!" Lizzy almost yelled, scrambling after him. She didn't know if his coming would change the story but what she did know was that she had to get away from him as he was disturbing her peace of mind. An amused voice whispered in her head, "As if you aren't already disturbed. Look around you!" Lizzy shoved the disconcerting voice away.  
Legolas took a few steps toward Lizzy, "Thats right, Captain," he sneered, "she'll be safe with us."  
"I'm she she would be," Eomer drawled, managing to infuse just enough doubt to be insulting, "but I'd rather not take the chance."  
"Why are you doing this?" Lizzy cried, "You don't even know me!"  
And still he ignored her.  
Lizzy not used to being ignored, ran after him.  
"Did you hear me?" She demanded, poking him in the back repeatedly.  
Eomer turned around and glared down at her, "I'm sorry," he said in a clipped, polite voice. "Did you say something?"  
He strode away leaving her fuming, her mouth gaping open like a fish. "Of all the nerve!" Lizzy muttered, then turned around blindly and ran straight into Legolas, who caught her with a grin.  
"Careful," he cautioned, setting her straight. The collision had reminded her of the many bruises as the pain returned with a vengence. Glancing up, she distantly noticed how pretty he really was with his gorgeous blonde hair and light blue eyes, but he lacked the strong masculine features she so admire in Eomer and Aragorn, even if they smelled slightly less clean.  
"Thanks," she murmured and moved off, missing the killing look Eomer sent Legolas.  
Striding up to Aragorn, who had barely moved, she grabbed his hand.  
"Thanks for letting me go with you, Aragorn!"  
"It's not like I had much of a choice," he muttered.  
Gimli snorted. As Lizzy passed him she patted him on the head as one might a child. A loud snarl issued from behind her and she grinned in delight.  
The two riderless horses were led to them. Legolas hopped on Hasufel and Aragorn on Arod. Lizzy and Gimli stood between the two, both with their hands on their hips.  
"Lizzy would you like to ride with me?" Legolas's melodious voice chimed above her head. Smiling in assent she reached up to grasp Legolas's hand when a horse elbowed his way between them and Eomer reached down and easily pulled her up beside him.  
"She rides with me," Eomer said in a voice that tolerated no argument and Lizzy saw Aragorn cast a look at Legolas, who abruptly closed his mouth, shutting off whatever protest he had. He instead reached down and hauled Gimli up behind him, who was muttering something about being a second choice and that he'd rather walk.  
Lizzy normally would have snarled at Eomer for being so highhanded but she let it slide because she was secretly glad to have his comforting weight behind her.  
She watched Aragorn give the signal and the two parties separated. Lizzy fought down another grin of excitement as she was beginning to feel like a raving lunatic, walking around with an insane smile plastered onto her face. But darn it all this was fun! As they trotted away, Lizzy rubbed her hands together eagerly. On to the next scene! 


	4. A Test

Thanks so much for all your reviews I really, really appreciate them! I know this chapter is a bit shorter but stay with me as I try to juggle work, classes, and my greatest passion, writing. Radbooks- you have become my red pen. Thank you so much! I always welcome your corrections. Lady Scribe of Avandell- The way I want to take the story requires that she knows what is going to happen next, otherwise you're right, it would be very interesting that way . . . certainly gives me ideas for another fanfic! Thank you for all your praise! ShyPixie  
  
They rode in silence for part of the way, each lost in their own thoughts. The steady clip-clop of horses' hooves had a strange lulling effect and it was only when Lizzy happened to catch a nasty frown Legolas sent Eomer that she realized that they had fallen back behind the others.  
"Why did you choose to come?" Eomer questioned suddenly, annoyance in his voice.  
"Why did you choose to come?" Lizzy countered, almost instantaneously, as the question had been burning in her mind.  
He ignored the imperious query. She was getting tired of always being ignored by this man as if she were a child whose silly questions didn't deserve an answer.  
"You know, it's really rude to ignore a person when she's talking to you."  
Still no answer.  
A spurt of anger hit Lizzy as he remained in stony silence behind her and glancing down at the exposed arm around her waist she grabbed a little piece of skin and twisted hard, deliberately sinking her nails in deep.  
Childish, yes. Satisfying . . . oh yeah.  
Expecting him to curse or yell at her, maybe both, Lizzy almost fell off the horse in surprise when his quiet chuckle reached her ears.  
"Was that supposed to hurt?"  
Almost screaming in frustration, Lizzy screwed up her eyes and took a deep breath. Okay, so that hadn't worked out like it was supposed to, but she'd die before telling him that.  
"No!" She blurted out, waving her hand in a breezy manner. "Of course it wasn't supposed to hurt! It was just a . . . a test."  
"What kind of test?" Eomer asked suspiciously.  
"A test to see if you had um . . . good skin!" Lizzy almost moaned at her answer. Good skin? "Congratulations, you passed!"  
"Oh, that's good, I suppose," he said in such a way that absolutely let her know he didn't believe a word of it.  
The ridiculous conversation was abruptly cut short, to Lizzy's everlasting joy, as Aragorn gave the signal to speed up.  
  
********  
Arriving at the scene of destruction and death of last night everyone hopped down off their horses to take a look around. After gingerly sliding down one side of the mount, Lizzy rested her full weight on her feet and promptly collapsed. She clutched her aching thighs and grounded loudly. These people had magic. Why weren't there magic carpets, or flying trees, or something?! Horses, for pete's sake, were so . . . medieval.  
Instantly, Legolas's face loomed above her, his eyes wide with fear.  
"Are you alright, milady?"  
"Yes, I just love rolling around in the dirt next to the stinking corpses of Uruk-Hai. It's my absolute favorite thing to do!" Lizzy snapped at him as she struggled to sit up. Glancing at his face, she instantly regretted it. No matter how old or how many battles a male fought they were still children at heart.  
"I'm sorry, Legolas, that was rude of me. Of course, I'm alright, just not used to riding a horse for long periods of time."  
His face instantly brightened as he gently cupped her elbow to assist her to her feet. Half-way off the ground, a hand appeared out of nowhere to shove Legolas out of the way and an arm wrapped around her waist.  
Lizzy rolled her eyes. "Do you mind?" She ground out to an irate Eomer.  
"Not at all," he smoothly replied, drawing her away from an angry Legolas to Aragorn and Gimli, who were studying the ground tracing the hobbits' tracks that lead, how'd ya guess, into the forest. Lizzy could barely restrain herself from telling them that she'd already told them all where Merry and Pippin were and saved her breath. These were men after all, not exactly the smartest beasts roaming the wild.  
Standing at the edge of the wood they tried to peer in between the thick branches. Quiet darkness stared back.  
"Well, what are we waiting for . . . an invitation?" Lizzy called out as she cheerfully pushed her way into the forest. Cursing under his breath, Eomer started in after her and the rest slowly followed.  
Hiding her winces that came with every step, Lizzy stopped abruptly and gazed around with frightened awe. Roots sprouted out of the ground like corded muscles and trees so tall their branches blocked out all but a few determined rays from the sun. Darkness reined here, and the quiet was unnatural.  
She'd stopped so suddenly, Eomer ran into her back with a grunt and steadied her when she would have fallen.  
"I don't like it here," Lizzy murmured softly as the fellowship approached. She didn't need to be told to know that everyone agreed.  
"Stick close together," Aragorn commanded quietly, "and don't let your guard down."  
Following the tracks deeper into the forest, Gimli suddenly stopped and muttered, "Orc blood," as he rubbed his fingers over a leaf.  
As they moved on, Lizzy instinctively leaned closer to Eomer as the groaning of the trees steadily became louder with every step they took.  
Legolas approached her, "The trees are speaking to one another," he whispered and his elf ears seemed to quiver for a second then he suddenly sprinted toward Aragorn.  
They spoke in hushed murmurs for a few seconds then Legolas slightly turned his head and said, "The white wizard approaches."  
Lizzy grinned. At last she was going to meet Gandalf, and when she would have rushed forward, Eomer placed a heavy hand on her shoulder and shoved her behind a tree.  
"Don't move!" Eomer roughly commanded before he rushed to join the others, drawing his sword as he went.  
"Did the man never learn?" She wondered incredulously as she tiptoed out from behind the tree. Last time he had tried to 'protect' her she hadn't stayed put and there was no way she was going to now.  
The men all had their weapons ready for whatever attack the white wizard had in mind and Lizzy shook her head when she thought of how easily Gandalf would disarm them. Suddenly, a bright light penetrated the gloom of the forest and Lizzy quickly brought up her arms to shield her eyes. She'd expected it, but, man, that was bright.  
She heard the dull thud of swords falling on soft grass and the twang of Legolas's bow then dead quiet. Looking up, Lizzy noticed that the light had dimmed somewhat and she could now detect the figure outlined in white. Perking up, she raced ahead through the men to meet Gandalf, not realizing she was the only one who knew his true identity.  
"No, Lizzy!" She heard a second before Eomer tackled her from behind trying to stop her from reaching the wizard.  
She saw the jagged rock sticking out from beneath the moss and thought, "Oh, damn!" before the world went black. 


	5. Payback

Dear Readers, Thanks for all you're praise so far. Continue to let me know what you think! Sorry for all the short chapters. I think the next few are going to be pretty actionless but I do plan to speed things up eventually. Thanks again! ShyPixie  
  
**********  
  
"For the last time, Legolas, it was an accident!" "Aragorn, this fool of a human could have killed Lizzy. It's only by the grace of Valinor she's still breathing. "I was trying to stop her from reaching, who I thought was Saruman, you idiot elf! In fact, now that I think about it this is all Gandalf's fault." "Excuse me?!" came a disgruntled voice. "If you hadn't had to show off by making such a grand and impressive entrance, Lizzy wouldn't have run and we wouldn't be having this argument!" "Why you upstart . . ." Gandalf roared his voice bouncing off the trees and Lizzy barely contained her giggle. She'd been awake for sometime but had kept her eyes closed due to the fact that this was just too interesting to sleep through. But when Eomer turned the guilt on Gandalf she decided it was time to wake up. Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't have a little fun doing it. Moaning loudly enough, dramatically enough to get everyone's full attention she squinted her eyes open and watched in delight as they broke off mid- yell and scurried over. "Lizzy, Lizzy are you alright?!" Legolas asked in a rush as he knelt beside her and placed a cool hand on her forehead. Eomer fell to his knees on her other side and reached over to shove Legolas's hand away. She watched it all using every ounce of strength she possessed to not show her hand too early in the game by laughing. "See, elf?! I told you she'd be fine. You are fine, right Lizzy?" Eomer asked a little desperately. Giving another groan she suddenly popped her eyes open wide. "Where am I?" Lizzy wondered aloud then, abruptly turning to Eomer, she blurted out, "Who are you?!" Legolas burst into delighted laughter. The look on Eomer's face was priceless and she felt not a twinge of remorse. This was payback time for all the anger she had experienced from his tendency to ignore her. Not to mention the fact that he had ruined her graceful first meeting with Gandalf and she wouldn't call passing out at his feet graceful. Turning from a stricken Eomer to Legolas she loudly asked, "And who the hell are you? . . . and what's with the ears?!" That wiped the smirk right off his face she noticed. Aragorn leaned down close. "Lizzy . . . d-o y-o-u k-n-o-w w-h-o y-o-u a-r- e?" he pronounced every word slowly and clearly as if talking to a not-so- bright child. "Y-e-s, I k-n-o-w w-h-o I a-m," she replied in the same tone of voice. "D-o y-o-u k-n-o-w w-h-o y-o-u a-r-e c-a-u-s-e I s-u-r-e a-s h-e-l-l d-o-n'-t." 'There that put him in his place,' she thought as he rocked back on his heels a bemused look on his face. She hadn't had this much fun for sometime and she'd only just begun. Mentally rubbing her hands together, she prepared for her next 'attack.' Opening her mouth, ready to deal the next blow, she halted when Gandalf's voice boomed loudly. "You've had your fun, Lizzy; now stop playing around with the boys." She bolted upright and stared at Gandalf. "How did you know?!" she mumbled, disappointment clear in her voice. "I'm a wizard, don't you know, nothing escapes us," he replied his eyes twinkling. "Come take a walk with me." Forgetting all about the three dazed looking males beside her, Lizzy jumped up and hurried after Gandalf feeling no pain at the sudden movements as she should have. Her head didn't even hurt from the beating it had taken. Odd. Shrugging it off to think of later, she did a little skip as she ran. A conversation with the great Gandalf. Who'd have thought? Eomer stepped into her path and she skidded to a halt. "Lizzy, you remember me?" "Unfortunately," she muttered as she walked around him. "But I thought . . ." he began. "Eomer, I'm fine, ok?" She cut him off distractedly. "Go beat up Legolas or something. I have to take a walk with a wizard." And she left him staring after her a scowl plastered across his face. Lizzy came up beside Gandalf and they quietly strolled beside a bubbling stream. "Where are you from, Lizzy?" Gandalf asked abruptly his face and voice serious. "If I told you, you'd think I was crazy," her tone revealed her fear, not only of telling Gandalf the truth, but the fear of confronting it herself. "What are you afraid of?" he queried as if reading her mind. "Nothing!" She replied too fast and winced at the sound of her own lie. "Everyone fears one thing or another. The trick is not letting that fear overcome you, but that's another subject for another day." He appeared to be gathering stray thoughts to himself for a second, "Lizzy, I want you to know that where ever you're from you belong where you are right now, with the fellowship . . . and with Eomer." Lizzy swung her head towards him at that but decided to let it pass. For now. Her heart felt lighter at his words. She was where she belonged. In other words, don't worry and she made up her mind then and there not too. "You healed me, didn't you?" She asked, changing the topic. "Well, of course! Who else could have done it so well?!" He asked pompously. "Why, no one but you Gandalf!" She simpered jokingly and he laughed. "But, seriously, my stomach doesn't hurt anymore and there's hardly more than a small bump on my head." He grinned, "I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." They continued talking for well over an hour and when they noticed the approaching darkness they headed back to the campsite. "You two get lost or something?" Eomer asked grumpily. Ignoring him, as he so often did her, she walked straight over to Legolas and smiled down at him. "Legolas, you wouldn't happen to have a brush and maybe some soap would you? I thought I'd take advantage of the water, since I must look, not to mention stink, horrible." Legolas, unlike Eomer, could appreciate a good joke and didn't appear to carry any negative feelings toward her. "Nonsense, milady! You look wonderful." They both ignored Eomer's snort. "But if you insist I do have both the items you're looking for. "I insist," Lizzy replied with a grateful smile taking the brush, soap, and small towel from him. "I owe you for this!" she said and walked away. On her way out of camp she heard Aragorn ask, "I noticed you didn't ask me for soap!" He had a wide grin on his face and it was clear he didn't hold a grudge either. Putting her hands on her hips she stepped back, gave him a quick once-over and raised her eyebrows, "I thought the reason obvious." Aragorn laughed appreciatively for a second, and then, still chuckling, he said, "You shouldn't go by yourself, Legolas . . ." he turned towards the elf, "why don't you . . ." Shooting up from the log, Eomer stomped over to Lizzy glaring at Legolas and Aragorn in turn the last of whom had a distinct twinkle in his eye. "I'll take her," he growled unpleasantly and grabbed Lizzy's hand, yanking her off into the shadows. Everyone but Legolas grinned as they heard the loud, but inventive insults she hurled at Eomer as they went and soon their voices faded away. "Shouldn't someone stop him?" Legolas yelped jumping to his feet, but he knew he couldn't go until Aragorn gave his permission. "He's always hauling her about and its obvious Lizzy hates him!" "Sit down, boy!" Gimli said gruffly. "Three thousand years on this earth and you still don't know much about women, do you?" The others chuckled. "She likes being yanked around by Eomer, Legolas, even if she hasn't admitted it to herself," Aragorn said with a knowing nod of his head. Still not convinced, Legolas dropped back onto the log to contemplate the mystery that was woman. 


	6. Look What You made Me Do

"Eomer let me go, you drooling idiot! I won't be dragged about like some rag doll you think you own. I'm serious! Let me go or I'll . . ." Lizzy let the threat hang in the air when she realized he wasn't paying her the least bit of attention.  
  
Fine then. In mid-jog, she drew her leg back (much like a soccer player shooting for a goal) and kicked him as hard as she could behind the knee. Cackling rather evilly in her head, she watched with glee as he went down hard a look of utter surprise spreading across his face.  
  
Unfortunately, she'd overlooked the fact that her hand was still firmly entrapped in his and, as the same look of stupid surprise crossed her features she was yanked down along side of him. A few seconds of stunned silence passed, and then Lizzy scrambled up yanking her hand out of his lax grip.  
  
"Look what you made me do!" She practically shouted and stomped past his prone form still spread over the ground. Eomer's hand shot out like lightning as she passed and grasped her ankle giving it a hard tug. Flailing her arms, the supplies Legolas had given her flying, she saw the ground rushing up to meet her once again.  
  
"Oomph," she groaned and felt like a felled log.  
  
Eomer stood up and calmly brushed the leaves and twigs off him.  
  
"Oops, look what you made me do," he said sarcastically and leaned down to clasp her hand and pull her up. After collecting the soap, towel, and hairbrush, he continued on, as if nothing had happened. Lizzy let herself be dragged along her mouth silently opening and closing as she searched for an appropriately horrible name for him. Finally giving up after a few minutes, Lizzy decided that nothing would ever possibly come close to describing the monster, so she settled on snarling, "I hope you rot in hell!"  
  
"Same to you, darling," he said almost cheerfully, blast the man. Completely ignoring the fact hat she'd tripped him first and had probably deserved the fall she'd received, Lizzy fumed in righteous anger and was so consumed with plotting revenge that she hardly noticed when he let go of her hand and stopped. After slamming into him, she recovered her wits and quickly stepped back glaring at him, as if it was all his fault.  
  
"Idiot," she muttered, gazing around. Moonlight kissed the leaves on the surrounding foliage and reflected off the water in the small pool. It would have been gorgeous if it weren't for one major flaw in the picture.  
  
Turning to Eomer she made an angry gesture with her hand, "You can go now."  
  
He planted his legs slightly apart and crossed his arms, "These woods are dangerous and I'm not about to-"  
  
She swiftly cut him off. "Yeah blah, blah, blah, I can take care of myself."  
  
"You think so? I haven't seen much to prove that theory so, no I'm not going anywhere," his voice still sounded cheerful and it grated on her nerves, making her want to strangle him.  
  
"Stop acting like my mother!"  
  
"I wouldn't have to if you'd stop acting like a child!" He shot back.  
  
Oh, no he didn't.  
  
Not saying a word, Lizzy spun on her heel and marched toward the pool. She was so mad it honestly surprised her there wasn't steam piping from her ears. So much for a refreshing soak, she'd have to settle for cleaning any part of her she could reach without removing her clothes since it was blatantly obvious he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.  
  
"Me? A child?! Try looking in a mirror, buddy!" she growled under her breath as she scrubbed the dirt and grime from her face. Submerging much of her hair in the water as possible, Lizzy toweled it off and began the difficult task of forcing a comb through the rat's nest. Soon she was chanting, "Ow, ow, ow . . ." as the knots stubbornly refused to untangle.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like hours her hair finally smoothed out and her arms ached from the fight. Leaving it down to flow around her shoulders as she had no tie. Lizzy stared hopelessly down at her ruined jog suit that was almost completely brown with dirt. She'd wanted to scrub them but that wasn't possible with the big goon standing behind her. Deciding that that was all she could do for now, she stood up and slowly walked back toward Eomer. He didn't move and his unnerving stare was starting to irritate her.  
  
"What? Did I grow a pair of horns or something?!" she snapped.  
  
At the sound of her voice he seemed to shake himself awake and turned to lead the way back to the camp. Walking side-by-side she could almost feel the burning glances he shot her all too frequently. When she couldn't take it anymore, Lizzy halted abruptly. "Would you stop staring at me as if I was some animal in the zoo and tell me what's up?!" she asked, exasperated.  
  
"What's a . . . a zoo? And why do you want to know what's up?" Eomer glanced overhead to search the star-studded sky that was barely visible between the tree tops. He looked so utterly confused she nearly laughed.  
  
After rephrasing the question, she waited patiently for his answer and was puzzled when he seemed to squirm.  
  
"You look different that's all," he muttered.  
  
"Oh, you mean you're surprised I actually look partially decent without the layers of dirt? Thanks!" Her voice was laced with offence. Spinning away from him she marched away, hating the fact that she knew, even as she did it that she was overreacting.  
  
"Lizzy! You know I didn't mean it like that!" Now he sounded exasperated.  
  
Lizzy didn't care. She was so sick and tired of his callous treatment of her and she was ashamed to feel tears cloud her eyes. It was all too much and in the back of her mind she realized she wasn't really crying over what Eomer had said, but rather everything. She didn't want to be in middle earth anymore and if this was a dream she wanted to wake up. Now!  
  
"Lizzy, where are you going?" Eomer's desperate voice came from behind her.  
  
"Back to camp," came her muffled response.  
  
"Well you'll wind up in the shire if you keep going this way," he said, putting a tentative hand on her shoulder. She stopped and turned around, lifting her face up to his with a hopeless look in her eyes.  
  
When Eomer saw the tears streaming down her face, he naturally panicked like any man would in his place. "I'm sorry!" he cried, "I'm sorry for whatever I did just please don't cry!" He thumped her back awkwardly. All he accomplished was to make her cry louder. Falling onto his chest, she sobbed as if her heart was breaking.  
  
"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Desperately looking around for help, he suddenly brightened. "I'll go get Gandalf. He'll know how to fix you!"  
  
Wrapping her arms tightly around him, stopping his flight to safety, Lizzy continued to sob, tears squeezing out between her tightly closed eyelids. Resigning to the inevitable, Eomer enfolded her in his arms and prepared to suffer. After awhile, her sobs became sniffles and she began to calm down. They remained locked together for what seemed like ages when, in reality, it was only minutes. Finally, Lizzy pulled back and after giving him a slightly watery smile she thanked him. Wanting to know the reason for her tears, but, at the same time, not wanting to set her off again he only nodded and remained silent. They slowly walked back toward camp giving Lizzy enough time to compose herself.  
  
The soft glow from the fire was a welcome sight and when they came closer, Lizzy became aware of the four men's stares.  
  
"What?" she asked puzzled.  
  
"You look . . . different," Legolas murmured and standing up he came closer.  
  
Lizzy groaned, "Not you too!"  
  
"What's this?" Legolas came even closer; ignoring the threatening step Eomer took towards him so intent was his study. "You've been crying!" He sent an accusing glace toward Eomer then turned to Gimli and Aragorn. "I told you! The brute made her cry!" All four of the males stared hard al Eomer with identical looks of reproach.  
  
Before he could defend himself, Lizzy stepped in, "Oh, stop it, Legolas. It wasn't Eomer's fault." The look on the elf's face suggested that he strongly doubted that. She personally couldn't care less as the crying spell had left her drained and exhausted.  
  
"Eomer would you find a blanket for me so I can go to sleep?"  
  
"Striding over to his horse, he retrieved his own bed roll and handed it to her.  
  
"But won't you-" Lizzy began, but Eomer, waved his hand, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."  
  
"Thank you," she said softly taking the bedroll and walking some distance away from the fires completely ignoring the angry Legolas. Not having any pajamas or her toothpaste or brush and frankly not caring, she spread her blanket out. After crawling in, it was only a matter of minutes before she slept  
  
*****  
  
Hours later she woke abruptly having no knowledge of what had disturbed her. Sitting up cautiously, she glanced around, surprise and warmth filling her. Her five companions had moved their own bedrolls over to surround her on all sides each clutching their own particular weapon. Eomer lay directly next to her and, because no one was looking, she reached a hand out to brush a stray lock of hair away from his forehead. Smiling, she snuggled back down and almost instantly fell asleep again, secure in knowing she was safer here than she would been with a thousand armed guards.  
  
What she didn't know was that Eomer, being the trained warrior he was, had instantly woken up when she'd sat up and had felt her fingers on his face. He drifted off to sleep with a smile playing on his lips. 


	7. Traitor

Lizzy did not wake up with a smile on her face to everyone's extreme discomfort. As she stomped around the camp, she found it vaguely amusing how the supposedly macho warriors scurried out of her path. All except for Eomer that is, who had woken up that morning looking distinctly cheerful, which of course only annoyed Lizzy more. The one person in the whole of Middle Earth she'd wanted to avoid decided to make it his personal goal to engage her at every turn.  
  
"Beautiful morning, isn't it Lizzy?"  
  
"Would you like to go wash in the pool again, Lizzy?"  
  
"Are you sure you're feeling alright, Lizzy?- you don't look well at all."  
  
"Now, Lizzy put the rock down. I didn't mean it! You look wonderful you always do!"  
  
No matter how many times she'd snarled at him Eomer had just kept coming. He'd even been reasonably polite to Legolas only making an excuse to shove him once that morning. She just wished he'd leave her alone. Couldn't he see how embarrassed she was from her little episode last night? Looking back she couldn't believe the way she'd blubbered all over the poor man and for nearly twenty minutes! Where had all her poise and grace gone? Where was the dignified, reserved corporate business woman?  
  
When everything was packed and ready to go, Lizzy spied Eomer making his way toward her. Panicking, she desperately looked about for an escape knowing he was going to make her ride with him again and she dreaded being in such close quarters with him after last night. Spinning around she saw Aragorn mounting his horse and with a hopeful glint in her eye she quickly strode towards the ranger. Just as she reached his side she heard Eomer's voice behind her.  
  
"Come on, Lizzy, it's time to head out."  
  
Glancing over her shoulder in mock surprise, as if she'd just noticed him, she said in a falsely apologetic voice, "Oh, I'm sorry, Eomer. Aragorn already asked me to ride with him." Ignoring Aragorn as he sputtered behind her she smiled as Eomer. "You understand."  
  
"Actually, I don't," he said in a hard voice and stared at Aragorn. "Now, Eomer, of course I didn't-" Aragorn began only to break off with a grunt when Lizzy reached up to pinch him hard on the leg.  
  
"Of course you did, silly!" She muttered with a bright smile and gave Aragorn's leg another twist. "Don't you remember?"  
  
"Well, I . . ."  
  
"There it's all settled then!" Lizzy cut him off again and was extremely grateful Eomer was too busy glaring Aragorn off his horse to notice her 'persuade' the ranger.  
  
Eomer gave a little masculine sounding huff and marched off.  
  
Sighing in relief she turned and found Aragorn glaring down at her and almost winced in guilt.  
  
"You, milady, are evil."  
  
"Oh, come on Aragorn, it was only a little pinch!"  
  
"With all due respect, Lizzy, you really should trim your nails before trying that line again," he replied with a small grimace on his lips. "Eomer told me you liked to pinch when you're not getting your way, but I thought he was joking!"  
  
Lizzy's cheeks flamed red with anger at the thought of them talking about her. "I've been thinking about getting Legolas to show me how to use one of his fancy daggers. Yes," she paused, as if considering the matter, "yes I think it'll make much more of an impact next time I'm not . . . what did you say? Getting my way?" And with that she whirled around and began to stomp away her hands clenched into fists at her sides. The nerve of them talking behind her back probably having a good laugh too! They'd pay oh yes, they'd pay dearly. Not only was she going to ask Legolas, but Gimli too. I'm sure he had some interesting, useful things he could show her with an axe.  
  
Suddenly, a pair of strong hands came around her waist and she had the strange sensation of floating above the ground then the world revolved for an instant before she landed hard in front of Aragorn on the saddle.  
  
His laughter boomed loudly in the silence of the morning and Lizzy clenched her teeth resisting the urge to pinch him again as that would only make him laugh harder, the idiot.  
  
"Temper, temper, milady. Now I really don't want the, I'm sure to be painful, bruise currently forming on my leg to go to waste, now do I?" She could almost feel his grin of amusement behind her. "Besides you don't want to lose face in front of Eomer, do you?"  
  
"Of course not," Lizzy replied a touch of relief in her voice. She hadn't thought of that.  
  
"And if you're going to make Eomer jealous might as well do it right, right?"  
  
"It wasn't my intention-" she began hotly, but Aragorn cut her off his voice infused with good-natured cheer.  
  
"Doesn't really matter your intentions does it? That's going to be the end result." He went on, "And in the process you've probably turned Legolas against me as well which I'm also sure wasn't your intention."  
  
Lizzy twisted around and stared behind them. Sure enough if looks could kill Aragorn would probably be a small pile of ash right about now. For once, Eomer and Legolas seemed united in something even if it was shooting daggers at Aragorn's back.  
  
"I can almost feel their stares," he gave a mock shiver and grinned down at Lizzy.  
  
She grinned back forgetting that she was angry at him. It was kind of funny even if Eomer alternated between glaring at Aragorn and at her. Her grumpy mood having lifted as surely as the sun climbed the horizon, she leaned back to laugh up at Aragorn.  
  
"Well, the least we can do is make the best of the situation, right?"  
  
"My thoughts exactly," he replied with a conspirator wink, and for the rest of the morning proceeded to engage her full attention. They whispered and laughed together trying to project the image of being totally absorbed with each other, which wasn't all that hard, Lizzy admitted to herself. He was a very charming man, but then to be a King you'd have to have that quality, she supposed.  
  
Not daring to look again, Lizzy could nonetheless feel Eomer's unblinking attention focused on them. It was starting to make her a little nervous.  
  
"Aragorn, you'll protect me when the time comes to get down, right?"  
  
"Only if you promise the same, darling," he said with a teasing not in his voice.  
  
"Only fair," she agreed. They were nearing the edge of the forest when she abruptly turned to Aragorn.  
  
"Why do they act like this anyway? They barely know me!"  
  
"Sometimes it takes years, like it did me, sometimes days or only minutes. There's no rhythm or reason to love, Lizzy it just is," his voice was oddly serious.  
  
"Love?" she scoffed, "we're not talking about love, Aragorn that takes years and a certain degree of similarity."  
  
"Maybe, but not in every case."  
  
Lizzy opened her mouth to continue the debate when a blast of sunlight hit her. They had reached the edge of the forest and her eyes had become so used to the dark interior that the bright blue sky almost blinded her. Opening her eyes cautiously she found the sunlight had lessoned in its intensity. Gandalf walked toward the front of the group and let out a high- pitched whistle that somehow seemed to have a mystical quality and echoed around the clearing. Even with the knowledge of what was coming she still stiffened slightly with awe at the sight of the gorgeous creature that came galloping over the ridge. She felt Aragorn's sudden indrawn breath and knew she wasn't the only one affected.  
  
Hopping down, Lizzy quietly walked over to stand by Gandalf to wait for its arrival. As it neared she lifted a hand up to gently stroke the horse's nose and heard Gandalf whisper softly in its ear though she couldn't make out the words.  
  
"Gandalf, can I ride with you?" She asked him, a pleading look on her face.  
  
He shifted uneasily on his feet and shot a look behind her.  
  
"Um, Lizzy, I don't think that's a good idea . . ." he trailed off when Eomer spoke up from behind her making her jump in surprise.  
  
"No, Gandalf, that's not a good idea." She slowly turned around to stare at his hard and unyielding face. "You'll ride with me," and with that he once again grabbed her hand and pulled her toward his horse.  
  
Lizzy shot a desperate look at Aragorn, who didn't move from his saddle, just grinned down at her like a moron as she was pulled past. 'Looks like I'm on my own,' she thought bitterly.  
  
Traitor. 


	8. A Dream Within a Dream

I know these chapters are short and I really apologize to all those who are disappointed, but I'm struggling to fit writing in between work and just day-to-day life. Anyway, the way the story is going might be a little frustrating (especially the pace) but I have a plan so stay with me. Thank you so much for reading so far and I hope you continue to do so and don't forget to review! ShyPixie  
  
******  
  
Chapter 8- "A dream within a dream"  
  
"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."  
  
-Edger Allen Poe  
  
"It's time, darling," Aunt Vesta smiled gently and reached a hand out to stroke Lizzy's hair in an old and familiar gesture. "You've had you're fun now it's time to come home."  
  
"I can't," Lizzy stepped back, shaking her head, "I'm happy here and I don't want to leave. Please don't ask it of me," a single tear trickled down her pale face. "Don't ask me to abandon the one chance of happiness I've ever had," her voice shook ever so slightly when she realized if her Aunt, who had always been more of a mother to her, requested it she'd comply to her wishes though she'd leave her soul behind.  
  
"You know it isn't real, Lizzy. You have responsibilities and you're desperately needed here." Her aunt's face and voice grew sad, "But I can't stop you if you choose to bury yourself in the lands between day and night."  
  
Vesta retreated back toward the shadows surrounding them and Lizzy desperately called to her when she realized her aunt was going to leave her alone in this place of darkness.  
  
"Please! Don't leave me here alone!" Vesta disappeared from view, swallowed up by the crouching shadows.  
  
"Oh, God, no! I'm so scared of the dark! Don't leave me!" Her wail echoed back to her tauntingly reminding her of her absolute aloneness. She sank to her knees and buried her face in her hands.  
  
"I'm so scared . . . don't leave me!" She sobbed over and over again, gently rocking herself back and forth for comfort.  
  
Raising her face from her hands, she gazed blankly around at the dark nothingness surrounding her. The shadows which had once been so far away seemed to be closing in on her. They felt alive now and almost . . . hungry. Rising slowly to her feet a scream of terror trapped in her throat almost choking her she lifted her eyes up not wanting to see the end.  
  
And then they pounced.  
  
*********  
  
Gasping, Lizzy reared up from her makeshift bed on the ground her eyes wide with fear and her heart pounding. A voice, her voice, screamed inside her head as she desperately struggled to catch her breath.  
  
'It was just a dream,' she thought desperately, 'just a silly, nightmarish dream. Nothing more.' Lizzy closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself and when she opened them again she jumped slightly in surprise. Everyone had obviously just woken up and was staring at her with alarm and concern. All except for Gimli that is, who was still cheerfully snoring away. Most of them had a weapon in one hand and flicked their gazes often from Lizzy to the surrounding landscape seeking the danger that had struck such terror in her eyes.  
  
Eomer's face suddenly appeared close to hers as he crouched down in front of her and took her chin gently between his forefinger and thumb turning her face upwards.  
  
"What's wrong, Lizzy? What did you see?" All his irritation at her from the day before seemed to be washed away with his overriding concern for her well-being.  
  
"It was nothing," she replied as fresh tears tumbled down her cheeks, "just a nightmare," and with that Lizzy flung her arms around his shoulders burying her face in his neck as she sobbed her heart out. His arms came about her and he gently stroked her back murmuring words of comfort. The others shifted their feet uncomfortably feeling as if they were intruding on a very private moment.  
  
After awhile, Lizzy untangled herself from Eomer and grinned ever so slightly at him her heart and mind oddly calm.  
  
"I always seem to be blubbering all over you," Lizzy said in an apologetic voice.  
  
"Feel free to use me as your tissue anytime," Eomer replied and they sat grinning at each other like children.  
  
Gandalf cleared his throat behind them and, startled, as they had both completely forgotten their audience, they turned to face him.  
  
"Lizzy, dreams are not to be taken lightly. Tell us what you saw."  
  
"Gandalf, it was just a silly dream! Don't worry it's nothing serious," she'd die before revealing something as personal as that nightmare to them. It had uncovered a lot of her deepest fears and she didn't think warriors such as these would understand.  
  
Gandalf stared at her for a second longer then with a nod let the subject drop. Hiding a relieved sigh, she turned to address everyone.  
  
"I'm so sorry I woke you all up!"  
  
"Haven't gotten a decent night's sleep for months thanks to him," Aragorn jerked his head toward the still snoring dwarf. "So no harm done."  
  
"Elves need very little sleep, milady," Legolas hurried to assure her.  
  
"I received all the rest I needed when I was dead," Gandalf smiled, making her laugh.  
  
"I wasn't asleep," Eomer said quietly and Lizzy turned her head toward him with a questioning frown between her brows. She opened her mouth to ask him why not when Gimli's earth-shaking snores ceased abruptly and he sat up clutching his axe to him. By the looks of him, he was still half-asleep with his eyes drooping and a little drool sliding slowly down his beard.  
  
'He's adorable,' she thought fondly as he turned toward Aragorn, and grumbled loudly; sleep clogging his voice, "Was wrong? Was there an attack?"  
  
Before Aragorn could respond, Legolas stepped in, "Yes, there were dozens of them and we defeated them all while you slept away. Some warrior you are, dwarf!" Legolas smirked when Gimli's face flamed red under his beard.  
  
"Oh, stop it, Legolas!" Lizzy exclaimed and hurried to tell Gimli the truth. If anything, his face turned a brighter shade of red as he turned toward the elf all traces of sleep having vanished from his eyes. He took a threatening step towards Legolas and the elf raised his hands with a laugh.  
  
"Now, Gimli, I was only having a bit of fun!" His grin widened as Gimli tightened his grip on his axe. "Don't make me hurt you."  
  
"Hurt me?" Gimli roared. "You couldn't hurt me, you prancing fairy, if there were a million of you!" And so it started, both hurling nasty insults at each other and the whole 'I could do anything better than you' argument. She'd grown used to their bickering in the short time and only rolled her eyes at them. Aragorn, who had suffered the most having had to endure the two alone for a time, strode over and placed a hand on both of their shoulders. Only the great respect each had for their leader had them going still.  
  
"Ahh . . . silence is golden, isn't it?" Obviously resisting the urge to bang their heads together or, worse, start lecturing them like children Aragorn let them go with reluctance and started to walk away, calling over his shoulder as he went, "It's near dawn. Might as well get going."  
  
Lizzy turned to start rolling up the bedding when she felt a touch on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Eomer.  
  
"Are you sure you're alright, Lizzy?" His eyes searched her face seeing the red-rimmed eyes and the signs of fatigue. She smiled softly and patted his cheek.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine, Eomer. Like I said, just a silly dream," but even as she said it shadows darkened her eyes. She had to keep saying that to reassure herself.  
  
"You'll ride with me?" Eomer asked tentatively.  
  
Lizzy glanced at him in surprise. She was amazed he had actually asked her rather than demanding or just assuming. She still felt a little guilty about her actions yesterday, but it seemed he'd learned something from it so it hadn't been a complete waste.  
  
"Yes, of course, Eomer," she said simply and once again, they smiled at each other in perfect accord. It was odd really being on such good terms with him and even stranger that she felt so desire whatsoever to shatter the mood. When they had set up camp last night he had barely spoken to Lizzy and she'd been completely miserable. So they'd avoided each other's eyes and sat on opposite sides of the camp. Aragorn had walked around with a stupid grin on his face glancing in between Eomer and Lizzy and occasionally breaking into laughter. That is until Lizzy had 'accidentally' spilled hot soup on his lap while passing. He kept a safe distance from her after that and she didn't see so much as a hint of a smile on his face.  
  
The party headed out with the sky lightening to a soft grey and Lizzy snuggled down in front of Eomer her head resting comfortably on his chest. Being friends with him definitely had its good points so she made up her mind to try her hardest not to mess up what they currently had. Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, she prayed for a dreamless sleep and drifted off. 


End file.
